Abstract:

To investigate the effect and mechanism of carbon nanotubes modified by iron oxide on thermal stability of silicone rubber, a series of silicone rubber based composites filled with CNTs, α-Fe₂O₃, γ-Fe₂O₃, a mixture of γ-Fe₂O₃ and CNTs, and γ-Fe₂O₃ modified CNTs (γ-Fe₂O₃-CNTs) were prepared, respectively. The results indicated that the presence of CNTs affected the crystalline form of attaching Fe₂O₃ which was changed from α to γ. γ-Fe₂O₃ also got a enlarged special surface area in the γ-Fe₂O₃-CNTs. γ-Fe₂O₃ was a more effectively thermal resistant additive than α-Fe₂O₃ due to the changes of crystalline form during the thermal aging. A synergy was found in the improvement of the thermal stability of γ-Fe₂O₃-CNTs/silicone rubber due to the thermal conductivity of CNTs and the enhanced γ-Fe₂O₃ by the CNTs. The enhanced γ-Fe₂O₃ sharply reduced the amount of the gases obtained from the oxidation of the side methyl groups of silicone rubber.

Keywords: silicone rubber; carbon nanotubes; iron oxide; synergy; thermal stability

 

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Biography:

Junping Zheng, Professor of School of Material Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, China, New Century Excellent Talents in University of China. She received the B.S. degree in Polymer Chemical Engineering in 1991, the M.S. degree in Polymer Materials in 1994 and the Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2001 from Tianjin University, China. Since she joined in School of Material Science and Engineering of Tianjin University in 1994, she has been focused on high-performance rubber, organic-inorganic nanocomposites and biomaterials. She has been responsible for several projects granted by National Natural Science Foundation of China, Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University and other high technical plans. She has published more than 60 journal articles, and SCI cited by other authors for more than 300 times, empowered 20 patents. As a reviewer for top international journals, such as Materials letters, Composites Science and Technology, Biomaterials, Polymer, etc.